A Scenic Connection (BoyxBoy)

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

I walked over to my closet and dropped my clothes in the hamper once more. I walked back over and jumped into bed, sliding under the covers, the feel of my soft sheets on my skin was so relaxing and comforting. I reached over and turned off the lamp that was on my bedside table and settled in. I pictured Tyce's arms wrapped around me as I snuggled the blankets and drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

Tyce and I texted every day, but we weren't able to see each other of the next couple of days because of work. It made me a little sad because I just wanted to spend time with him, but it also made me look forward to the end of the week when we would hopefully be able to get together with Hadley and the others.

"Griffin!" My mom called from the kitchen. I walked down the hallway and yelled down the stairs.

"What?" I called.

"Could you come here please?" She asked. I rolled my eyes, huffing slightly as I headed down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

"What?" I repeated as I entered the room. She was at the sink and turned around as I approached. She fixed her eyes on me.

"I want to talk to you," she said. A small chill ran down my back and my eyes widened. I wondered if she suspected something or was going to confront me. I had always figured I would be the one to control that conversation and have it when I wanted to. I certainly wasn't anticipating having it right now.

"Oh? About what?" I asked as I slid onto a chair at the dining table.

"About that night at dinner with Gracie and Ronan," she said, putting one hand on her hip.

"Oh, what about it?" I asked, relaxing a little because obviously she wasn't wanting to talk about what I assumed she was for a moment there. She sighed loudly and closed her eyes for a second, as if she was preparing herself to talk to me even though she didn't really want to.

"Look, Griffin I know what happened at the lake," she suddenly said. I flinched a little.

"Yeah you mentioned it already?" I said but it came out like a question. She nodded.

"Yeah and I'm a little disappointed but as I said before we don't really want to talk about why you did what you did," she continued. "But, that night at dinner when you got home, was that what was on your mind? Was that why you were pretty rude?" I stared at her for a what seemed like a long moment. She raised her eyebrows, expecting a response. The truth was what happened at the lake was only part of what was on my mind, and admittedly, I didn't know how to contain this conversation now.

"Mom," I slowly began, clearing my throat. "Yeah what happened was...." I paused, searching for the words. "is, hard to think about. It's, you know, it scared me. And so yeah was I in a weird mood that night? Yes, and I'm sorry about that," I breathed out. My mom slowly walked over and pulled out the chair next to me, settling into it. Her gaze flicked over to the window, and she put a hand up to her lips while her elbow rested on the table.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that honey," she finally said after a moment, returning hey eyes to mine. "I can only imagine...." she trailed off. "I guess the reason it made me upset was because you could've died and I didn't even know," She said.

"But I didn't die Mom. My friends were going to call you but I told them not too once I knew I was going to be fine," I told her.

"But why didn't Hadley call right when it happened? I just don't understand," she replied.

"Look I- I don't even know why we're talking about this. You just said you didn't want to talk about the reasons and all of that," I said, starting to get frustrated, I slid my hand over my face quickly. "I'm here. I'm right here and I'm fine. So why do all of the details matter now that it's over!?" I asked, my voice raised. My mom's eyes widened as she looked at me.

"Because you didn't tell us!" She hollered back. "We're your parents! You're family! And you didn't tell us!" She continued, her voice getting louder. I frowned as I thought about that, then I put my hands in my face as the guilt of me not telling them I was gay hit me. I was still lying to them, even if it was about something else.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled though my hands.

"Griffin, Griffin," She said softly, sensing my mood swing. She grabbed at my hands and tried to pry them away from my face. "I just want you to know that you can always tell us anything."

"Anything?" I asked unconvinced. She nodded repeatedly.

"Yes anything. I'm your mother. I want you to be able to tell me anything," she said. I bit my lip, thinking for a moment.

"Mom," I said after a long pause again. Her face was close to mine and she looked at me expectantly.

"I'm uh, I'm gay."